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SMITE World Championship Day Three

“One game. $1.3 million. This has got to be the most hype moment in eSports history.” -Todd Harris, Co-founder and COO of Hi Rez studios

Day three of the 2015 SMITE World Championships, an event that raised over $2 million for charity and topped over 81 thousand unique viewers on Twitch, was one of the closest and most intense competitions in eSports, an event that utterly shook the competitive gaming community–from its prize pool and viewership to its incredible organization and production value. For those that missed it, here is a complete summary of both the consolation match and the World Championship finals.

Consolation Match: Cog Red versus SK Gaming

Cog Red and SK Gaming was a match up that many analysts and community members had picked for the championship finals. But after Cog Red’s narrow 3-2 loss to Cog Prime and Titan’s 2-0 clean sweep of SK Gaming in the semifinals, the teams found themselves competing for 3rd place, for 15% of the total prize.

Cog Red swept the match 2-0. Divios wrecked the field as Hercules, and Red aggressively and systematically picked SK apart in every aspect of the game.

Game 1

Cog Red managed the field from the very start of the first game. They controlled 58% of the jungle, killing two out of three Gold Furies and eliminating the Fire Giant. Divios and DaGarz led the team in offense, with five and six kills, respectively. It was Divios’ play in team fights, though, that set him apart. His crowd control was spot-on; his use of Earthbreaker, specifically, was unmatched anywhere else in the tournament. Red destroyed SK’s towers with little struggle, picked up the Fire Giant buff, and stormed the enemy base. The killed the Titan at 28:04 with a final score of 19-7.

Game 2

The second game was even more of a sweep. SK Gaming failed to ban Hercules and built a low-damage late game roster–pushing, instead, for high CC (crowd control). Their plan failed. Like the first game, Cog Red dominated the jungle with little struggle. They picked up a large gold/experience lead in the beginning and never let up. Red killed all the available Gold Furies and dominated the Fire Giant with no contest. Divios shut down Zyrhoes’ Thor, a god that had given everyone else trouble, and Badgah’s Ymir was rendered useless. Cog Red killed the Titan at 23:21; the final score was 16-1.

The SMITE World Championship final: Cog Prime versus Titan

The World Championship Finals were electrifying. The fans, shirtless and spattered with color, screamed and hammered against the walls and handrails. The prize: $1.3 million. On stage right sat Cog Prime, the statistical and historical favorite. And on stage left sat Titan, the Cinderella team that had fought its way to the finals through amateur bouts and wildcard skirmishes. It was an unforgettable match. Both teams played like winners. In the end, though, only one team was crowned the 2015 SMITE World Champions.

In all, both teams played perfectly. Cog Prime won the first two games, and Titan swept the second two. The winner was decided in the details. Cog Prime out-picked Titan in the final draft and won the match.

Game 1

Cog Prime banned Ymir early, eliminating KanyeLife as a threat. MLCSt3alth later surprised Titan by picking Zhong Kui. His Zhong Kui and BaRRaCCuDDa’s Anhur dominated the first round with KDAs of 6/2/12 and 5/2/11, respectively. Together (with CC help from Andinster) they shut down KanyeLife. Confrey’s Chaac choice proved fruitless. He rarely left his lane in the first ten minutes and failed to pick up enough gold or experience to be useful in the late game. Ataraxia, who had played extremely well as Apollo in the Titan/SK Gaming match, also spent too much time in the lane. He waited too long for a speed buff and lost nearly a minute of farm experience.

In all, nerves lost Titan the first match. They forgot their fundamentals; they struggled in the laning phase and pushed too little in the jungle. Cog Prime played aggressively. They defeated Titan at 35:13. The final score was 21-7.

Game 2

Prime banned Ymir again. Titan allowed MLCSt3alth to pick up Nox, and they paid dearly for it. MLCSt3alth went 7/0/7 in the second game. Andinster played an incredible second match; he played a crucial role in nearly every team fight. His Berserker Barrage and Tectonic Rift placements, particularly, were crucial. KanyeLife, scrambling, picked Hercules. His selection fated poorly; he ended the match 0/7/1. Ataraxia did nothing.

Once again, Titan was beaten with fundamentals. They lost the pick battle and were outplayed in every phase.

Game 3

With help from the sidelines, Titan shook off their losses and entered the third pick/ban phase with clear heads. They solved their biggest problem: Thor. Repikas drafted Thor in the first round, stealing him from Adinster. They weren’t out of the woods yet.

Prime drew first blood against Titan and started pushing hard into Titan’s lanes. In a stroke of genius, though, Adaraxia ulted his Rama and sniped a fleeing god from across the map. The kill revitalized Titan, and they began pushing into Prime territory.

BaRRaCCuDDa was rendered useless. He ended with a final KDA of 2/7/2. JeffHindla died more than anyone else in the match, ending with a KDA of 0/8/5. Confrey, on the other hand, played really well. He ended the match 4/0/12. Titan dominated the jungle, pushed lanes, claimed the Fire Giant buff, and defeated Cog Prime in 33:59. The final score was 28-8.

Game 4

Game four went much the same way as game three. Confrey built upon his momentum from the third game and single-handedly dominated the fourth match. He played the game of his life, with a KDA of 10/1/5. JeffHindla, conversely, played another bad game. He seemed to have lost his rythym. He ended the match 0/7/6.

Again, Titan played the game extremely well. They dominated the jungle–specifically the Gold Furies–and won the game with a massive gold lead. The final time was 30:16; the score was 22-10.

Game 5

After back-to-back wins against Cog Prime, Titan looked spent going into the fifth match. Again, they eliminated Thor right off the bat. They also banned Nox, targeting MLCSt3alth. But those bans left Ao Kuang wide open. Andinster took advantage of the weak ban and drafted the hero. (For those unfamiliar with Ao Kuang, he is an extremely aggressive god that deals an extraordinary amount of damage. His King of the Eastern Seas ultimate ability is, by far, the most powerful offensive ultimate in the game. It tosses enemy heros up intothe air and kills them if their health falls under 28%.) From there, Titan struggled to form a team. They chose Nemesis to counter the Ao Kuang draft. Unfortunately though, the damage had already been done.

As anticipated, Andinster dominated the match with a KDA of 9/1/9. MLCSt3alth played a great game as well. His Scylla wreaked havok during team fights. Titan stood no chance against the match up. Cog Prime pushed the towers and Phoenixes and won the match in 24:15 with a final score of 22-6.

Conclusion

Congratulations to Cog Prime for winning the 2015 SMITE World Championship! And congratulations to MLCSt3alth for winning MVP!

Cog Prime played extremely well in all phases of the tournament. They went the distance in the third largest eSports tournament in history, and they emerged champions. They truly are the best SMITE team in the world.

Titan also deserves congratulations. They earned their passage the hard way, and they performed extremely well under pressure–especially after back-to-back losses. They overcame adversity and almost walked away with $1.3 million. In my book, they are champions, too.

For summaries of all the earlier matches in the 2015 SMITE World Championship, click here and here. And for live eSports coverage on everything from DotA 2 to League of Legends, follow @MMOGames on Twitter.

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